Bible Facts

Is Jesus Birthday Really December 25?

I have been asked many times how we know that Jesus was born on December 25. 

1.  The Hebrew calendar has 354 days (our’s 365).  January is Nisan, the first month of the year.

2.  The priests who served in temple followed a pattern set by King David. (1Chronicles 24).  The descendants of Aaron were divided into 24 groups to serve two roles “govenors of the sanctuary and governors of the house of God.” (1 Chronicles 24:5).  Each group of priests would, according to a schedule drawn up by the casting of lot (1 Chronicles 7-18).  David’s system, set in place, correlated the groups of priests to the months.  The same pattern was followed for the military as the priesthood (1 Chronicles 27).  This meant that each group knew when they were due to leave their homes and go to Jeruselam for their time of service.  According to 1Chronicles 24:10, the family of Abijah was assigned the eighth course.  That meant Abijah and his descendants would serve in the eighth  month. 

3.  Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, served in the eighth month.  Luke 1:5 says “There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth”.  As a descendant of Abijah, Zacharias would have served in the temple in the eighth month of the Hebrew calender, the month of Hashem.  Hashem corresponds to mid-October to mid-November on our calendar.  Zacharias was fulfilling his normal term of service when the angel Gabriel appeared and told him that he and Elisabeth were going to have a son.

4.  Zacharias would have completed his service and gone home between the middle and end of October.  The bible tells us that Zacharias stayed and completed his normal duties in the temple before returning home (Luke 1:23).  It was shortly after his return that Elizabeth conceived, as promised by the angel.  The most likely date, therefore, for John the Baptist conception was the end of October.  Elizabeth hid herself for 5 months after conceiving John (Luke 1:24).

5.  Gabriel appeared to Mary in the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy to announce the birth of Christ.  The start of the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy would have been close to the end of March.  It was at that time that Gabriel announced to Mary that she would be the mother of the Messiah.  He also told her that her cousin Elizabeth was pregnant (Luke 1:26-36).

6.  The normal time for a human baby is 270 days.  Gabriel made his announcement to Mary close to March 31 on our calendar.  If you add 270 days to that, you will come to December 25.

7.  Also, lambs are born in the middle to the end of December.  Sheperds usually stayed out in the field with the sheep at night during the time when lambs are born (Luke 2:8-12)

So you see, the proof is in the Bible